{"id":5180,"date":"2022-08-30T13:49:27","date_gmt":"2022-08-30T04:49:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/upgrade-your-suica-to-mobile-suica\/"},"modified":"2025-08-28T11:33:57","modified_gmt":"2025-08-28T02:33:57","slug":"upgrade-your-suica-to-mobile-suica","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/ja\/upgrade-your-suica-to-mobile-suica\/","title":{"rendered":"Upgrade Your Suica to Mobile Suica"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>There was a time when finding one\u2019s way around Japan\u2019s rail lines required extraordinary effort, determination, and a bit of luck. Literacy helped as well, but most newly arrived foreigners were out of luck in that regard. The most challenging part was getting the tickets, which required deciphering the maps, figuring out the ticket machines, and finally remembering your ticket. Then came IC cards, which simplified this process. Just charge your card with cash and tap your way through the gates. Plus, you can use the card for everything from vending machines to paying for things at convenience stores. Long live the IC card! <span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>But what if we could improve even further? Dare we try? Let\u2019s upgrade our IC cards to the Mobile Suica in the spirit of <i>kaizen<\/i> (gradual improvement).<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is it?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Thanks to technology, it is easier than ever to use your Suica card on your mobile devices, such as a smartphone or even Apple Watch. Once the Suica card is saved in the Suica app, you can tap it instead of bothering with the card at turnstiles, vending machines, etc.<\/p>\n<p>Most made-for-Japan Android smartphones, and \u201cfeature phones\u201d before them, have had this ability for over a decade through an Osaifu Keitai app. Just as Apple made smartphones easier to use, their Apple Pay solution has done the same, and the iPhone version of Mobile Suica is one of the outcomes.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Apple Pay + Mobile Suica<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>To start your journey into the world of mobile transport payments on your iPhone, you\u2019ll need the following:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>An iPhone 8 or later, or an Apple Watch Series 3 or later with the latest version of iOS or watchOS.<\/li>\n<li>An iPhone 7 or Apple Watch Series 2 purchased in Japan.<\/li>\n<li>A debit\/credit card already set up in Apple Pay -or- any Japanese debit\/credit card issued in the country, even if not able to be used with Apple Pay (more on this later)<\/li>\n<li>Physical Suica card (optional). You can create a virtual Suica card using the mobile Suica App, but since the app is in Japanese, it takes a few extra steps\u2026 If you\u2019re in Tokyo already, you have a Suica card anyway. If not, head to a JR station and pick one up for \u00a5500 at the ticket machines.<\/li>\n<li>Have the region of your device set to Japan (this doesn\u2019t change your device\u2019s language, just what App Store country you download from.)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If this is ready, download the <a href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/app\/suica\/id1156875272?mt=8\">Mobile Suica app from the App Store.<\/a> The first thing to note is everything\u2019s in Japanese, but for our purposes right now, we don\u2019t need to worry about that.<\/p>\n<p>Next, open the Wallet app and tap the \u201c+\u201d icon in the upper right corner to add a new card. The next screen should have a new entry, \u201cAdd Suica Card\u201d; tap that and follow <a href=\"https:\/\/support.apple.com\/en-us\/HT207155\">these directions from Apple<\/a> to transfer a Suica card into your phone or watch.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How to generate a virtual Suica instead<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>You can also go into the mobile Suica app and generate a virtual card, but since the app is only in Japanese for now, it may be best to ask a Japanese-speaking friend for help.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What about the Apple Watch?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>After you\u2019ve got a valid pass on your iPhone, you can quickly move it to your Apple Watch through the Watch App\u2019s wallet function. The cool thing about this is that even if you have an iPhone that doesn\u2019t have the NFC-F ability for Mobile Suica, Apple Watch series 3 and 4 can be used.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What about us Android users?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Since 2010, the first \u201cmade-in-Japan\u201d Android smartphones have been able to use Mobile Suica. This is because the technology had already been in place here for some time. But this also meant that those of us bringing an Android phone into Japan are out of luck since the phones are missing a specific microchip and SIM card required to make it work. However, if you have a Japanese Android smartphone and comparable SIM card, then all you need is the <a href=\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/apps\/details?id=com.google.android.apps.walletnfcrel\">Google Play App<\/a> and follow the instructions for adding a new card, and if your phone is compatible, you should see the screens to add a Suica card.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Let\u2019s get to tapping!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>With your mobile Suica set up, your options for using them are nearly limitless. Not only can you ride trains, buses, and taxicabs, but you can rent bicycles, use coin lockers, play video games and buy groceries with Suica. And the best part? This convenience is nationwide since you can use the mobile Suica on almost every transport system in the country. So get out there and start tapping away with your mobile Suica.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Ainokaze_Toyama_Railway_uozu_station_Suica.JPG\">\u30bf\u30c1\u30e4\u30de\u30ab\u30e0\u30a4<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0\">CC BY-SA 4.0<\/a>, via Wikimedia Commons<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There was a time when finding one\u2019s way around Japan\u2019s rail lines required extraordinary effort, determination [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":5181,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37,82],"tags":[50,47,45],"class_list":["post-5180","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tokyo-2","category-travel","tag-august-2","tag-tokyo-city-2","tag-tokyo-metropolis-2"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5180","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5180"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5180\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49958,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5180\/revisions\/49958"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5181"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}